@inclined2fly.bsky.social
USAF Veteran, Pilot, Former Designated Pilot Examiner, NTSB Aircraft Accident Investigator and retired FAA Aviation Safety Inspector. Flight Instructor, Airplane Single & Multiengine; Instrument Airplane; Glider. 43 years of flying experience...so far.
It depends on what you mean by "privatization". If ATO was removed from the FAA and made a stand alone organization (think USPS or Amtrak), thereby removing it from the annual appropriations debacle, that would help. FAA would continue an oversight role. Giving it to Lockheed Martin, not so much.
November 9, 2025 at 3:30 PM
It depends on what you mean by "privatization". If ATO was removed from the FAA and made a stand alone organization (think USPS or Amtrak), thereby removing it from the annual appropriations debacle, that would help. FAA would continue an oversight role. Giving it to Lockheed Martin, not so much.
MTG setting the example...
November 6, 2025 at 4:23 PM
MTG setting the example...
They are the best in the world, and they're not getting paid at the moment. What a country.
November 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM
They are the best in the world, and they're not getting paid at the moment. What a country.
In 2003, AVS-1 decided we needed to be ISO-9000 certified. They built a "Quality Management System" that everyone in the field told them wouldn't work. $60M later, the QMS program was a disaster. They stopped using it after a few years. The contractors (former FAA) made lots of money though.
November 5, 2025 at 1:40 AM
In 2003, AVS-1 decided we needed to be ISO-9000 certified. They built a "Quality Management System" that everyone in the field told them wouldn't work. $60M later, the QMS program was a disaster. They stopped using it after a few years. The contractors (former FAA) made lots of money though.
I can't speak for ATO but in Flight Standards, each change in Administrator caused upheaval, but then each change is AVS 1 and or AFS 1 caused even more. The automation was a huge problem. It was always poorly designed and implemented mostly by contractors headed by former FAA "leaders".
November 5, 2025 at 12:39 AM
I can't speak for ATO but in Flight Standards, each change in Administrator caused upheaval, but then each change is AVS 1 and or AFS 1 caused even more. The automation was a huge problem. It was always poorly designed and implemented mostly by contractors headed by former FAA "leaders".
Blakey was my boss at the NTSB. When I joined the FAA, Garvey was administrator, followed by Blakey shortly after. With every change from then on, all the way to Witless Whitaker, it was chaos while the "new guy" changed everything and the last one went to industry to work against the FAA.
November 5, 2025 at 12:26 AM
Blakey was my boss at the NTSB. When I joined the FAA, Garvey was administrator, followed by Blakey shortly after. With every change from then on, all the way to Witless Whitaker, it was chaos while the "new guy" changed everything and the last one went to industry to work against the FAA.
I'm surprised he knows anything about it.
November 4, 2025 at 3:23 PM
I'm surprised he knows anything about it.
It's all part of the plan. Break the system to make the case for privatization. Read Project 2025.
November 3, 2025 at 2:47 PM
It's all part of the plan. Break the system to make the case for privatization. Read Project 2025.
A goal of Project 2025 is to split the ATO from the FAA and either contract it out or set up a USPS or Amtrak like corporation, thereby removing it from the annual budget process. FAA Flight Standards would retain an oversight. They want it to fail so they have ammunition to force the change.
November 3, 2025 at 12:52 AM
A goal of Project 2025 is to split the ATO from the FAA and either contract it out or set up a USPS or Amtrak like corporation, thereby removing it from the annual budget process. FAA Flight Standards would retain an oversight. They want it to fail so they have ammunition to force the change.
I think I got to episode 4.
November 2, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I think I got to episode 4.
Here's a better picture of Tom (front seat). I had finished the commercial add-on and we started working on the CFI in his Duo Discus. I had thousands of hours as a CFI (airplane) already, but now I had to "teach" a man who literally wrote the book (many of them) on soaring. What a treat that was.
October 21, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Here's a better picture of Tom (front seat). I had finished the commercial add-on and we started working on the CFI in his Duo Discus. I had thousands of hours as a CFI (airplane) already, but now I had to "teach" a man who literally wrote the book (many of them) on soaring. What a treat that was.
That's a very special photo. I took that while I was training for my commercial/CFI glider add-on ratings. The gentleman in the photo between the tow plane and the glider is Tom Knauff, who was my instructor for the course. Best instructor I've ever worked with.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
Thomas Knauff - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
October 21, 2025 at 3:05 PM
That's a very special photo. I took that while I was training for my commercial/CFI glider add-on ratings. The gentleman in the photo between the tow plane and the glider is Tom Knauff, who was my instructor for the course. Best instructor I've ever worked with.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_...
Looks a lot like this ASK-13 I flew at Eagle Airport in PA.
October 21, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Looks a lot like this ASK-13 I flew at Eagle Airport in PA.
They launch Tomahawks off the coast of CA into a corridor that crosses north of Santa Barbra, across Highway 1, 101, 5, 14 and 58. The corridor disappears into numerous restricted areas in CA, NV and into UT where it emerges into the Dugway Proving Ground. There are chase planes, of course.
October 19, 2025 at 3:02 PM
They launch Tomahawks off the coast of CA into a corridor that crosses north of Santa Barbra, across Highway 1, 101, 5, 14 and 58. The corridor disappears into numerous restricted areas in CA, NV and into UT where it emerges into the Dugway Proving Ground. There are chase planes, of course.
10,000 meters would be nearly 33,000 feet. In a Cessna 172. Not likely. That isn't even 10,000 feet.
October 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
10,000 meters would be nearly 33,000 feet. In a Cessna 172. Not likely. That isn't even 10,000 feet.
King Air crashes on takeoff. Two helicopters down in two days. What's going on in GA?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/u...
Small plane crashes into vehicles in Texas | CNN
A small plane crashed into parked semi-trucks and trailers in North Texas, igniting a fire and leaving two people dead, the Fort Worth Fire Department told CNN affiliate KTVT.
www.cnn.com
October 13, 2025 at 4:11 PM
King Air crashes on takeoff. Two helicopters down in two days. What's going on in GA?
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/10/12/u...
When you gut the aviation safety inspector workforce, stuff happens.
October 13, 2025 at 2:52 PM
When you gut the aviation safety inspector workforce, stuff happens.
When the left engine fails on take-off and the pilot is below Vmc. That's how it happens.
October 13, 2025 at 2:50 PM
When the left engine fails on take-off and the pilot is below Vmc. That's how it happens.
It's a multi engine airplane. A C-90 King Air with two PT-6 turbine engines to be exact.
October 13, 2025 at 2:49 PM
It's a multi engine airplane. A C-90 King Air with two PT-6 turbine engines to be exact.
Lower center of gravity does wonders.
October 11, 2025 at 4:44 AM
Lower center of gravity does wonders.
The FAA isn't just air traffic controllers. There are thousands of FAA inspectors in Flight Standards that oversee aviation safety at FSDOs and CMOs. Shutdowns delay or cancel airman/ operator inspections, checks, certifications, investigations, training. The damage takes a year to recover from.
October 11, 2025 at 2:53 AM
The FAA isn't just air traffic controllers. There are thousands of FAA inspectors in Flight Standards that oversee aviation safety at FSDOs and CMOs. Shutdowns delay or cancel airman/ operator inspections, checks, certifications, investigations, training. The damage takes a year to recover from.
FSDOs are devastated by these shutdowns. Their ability to conduct oversight is delayed for 6 to 9 months after they end. Inspectors drop out of currency, flight checks and observations can't be done, inspections are cancelled, operators can't operate. It's infuriating.
October 10, 2025 at 8:16 PM
FSDOs are devastated by these shutdowns. Their ability to conduct oversight is delayed for 6 to 9 months after they end. Inspectors drop out of currency, flight checks and observations can't be done, inspections are cancelled, operators can't operate. It's infuriating.
Keep in mind that Project 2025 has a specific goal to privatize ATC by either contracting it out or making it an independent organization (like Amtrak or the USPS) to remove it from the annual budget process. Destroying it now will give them the argument to do it ASAP. All part of the plan?
October 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Keep in mind that Project 2025 has a specific goal to privatize ATC by either contracting it out or making it an independent organization (like Amtrak or the USPS) to remove it from the annual budget process. Destroying it now will give them the argument to do it ASAP. All part of the plan?